Morgan Freeman on God: 'We are all in search of the truth'

Tue 29 Mar 2016

By Marcus Jones

Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman says he has enjoyed working on a new project in which he has been exploring who God is.

The 78-year-old, who has played God in the comedy films Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty claims he is not a religious person but understands "the draw, the necessity" for those who say they have a relationship with him.

He will present a six part documentary titled The Story Of God which starts on Sunday.

The show sees him visit a number of holy sites of different religions as he grapples with creation, who Is God?, evil, miracles, end of days and resurrection.

"I can relate to the big questions that most of us ask ourselves at some point in our lives: Why am I here? What's my purpose? How did we get here? Those questions resonate with me," says Freeman in an interview with the Press Association in which he describes himself as a man "cursed with enormous curiosity about life, people and things".

"And while science has produced answers to many of the big questions that people have asked throughout history, it doesn't offer answers for everything."

The Hollywood star says his highlight of the series was visiting Joel Osteen's church in Houston.

"Just hearing him lift I don't know how many thousands of people," he explains.

"He wasn't preaching, he was merely saying, 'God has given you everything you need to succeed in life, now it's up to you'. Don't get up in the morning saying, 'Oh, I have an audition for a job but I know I'm not going to get it for whatever [reason]'. Negativity breeds failure. God has given you tools. God has given you talent, God has empowered you."

He added that he was surprised to find out just how many people were on a journey with God and said he hoped the series helped people on that journey.

"My hope, I suppose, is that the audience will connect and find value in The Story Of God, because I connected and found value in making it," he said.

"We are all in search of our truth," Freeman adds. "I found that a very unifying and surprising revelation as I was on this journey."

The Story Of God begins on National Geographic Channel on Sunday, April 3.